A study was conducted to determine the following: Do the needs of beginning and experienced technical college teachers differ? Do the professional development activities of the two groups differ? and Do the factors important to beginning teachers who leave vocational education differ from those of experienced teachers who leave? The data used in…

This report examines the long-term impact of Academic Program Improvement (API) grants made from 1980 to 1986 at the California State University (CSU), by assessing the factors that contributed to or inhibited permanent adoption of successful innovations. Questionnaires from and interviews with project directors and administrators associated with…

The first-semester orientation course at Irvine Valley College (IVC), in California, a non-required course taught by counselors, covers time management, study skills, academic policies, career and academic major exploration, and support services. In an effort to evaluate the effectiveness of the course, a study was conducted of the 1990 freshman…

In response to an Oklahoma state mandate, for the second year, a comparative study was done of the graduation rates of scholarship athletes and the student body as a whole. The study used data from the student-cohort flow system to determine whether students graduated within 6 years of enrollment (for four-year institutions) or within 3 years of…

A study was conducted at Kutztown University (Pennsylvania) to examine issues affecting women in higher education. Areas addressed in the study include aspirations for advancement, perceptions of family support, perceived institutional support, perceived barriers to advancement, and networks perceived to support faculty. Data were solicited…

Models for preparing teachers to work knowledgeably and effectively with diverse populations are needed. The primary purpose of the Learning to Teach Diverse Populations project (Houston, Texas) is to reduce the drop-out rate of new teachers assigned to inner-city schools by training student teachers in a supportive inner-city school environment.…

In 1989, a research project was initiated at Sacramento City College (SCC) to conduct a retrospective analysis of a sample of 400 continuing and entering students enrolled at SCC during fall 1987. The purpose of the study was to examine the relationship between academic success, basic skills assessment test scores and recommended placement levels,…

To address the needs of African American students at Beaver College in Glenside (Pennsylvania), a one-credit freshman orientation course on Afrocentricity was developed. The course was intended to increase the comfort level between the institution and its culturally diverse students and add additional support for increased retention of African…

This report summarizes perceptions of Latino teachers concerning their professional preparation, their working environment, and school/community characteristics that affect the achievement and attainment of Latino students. A mailing of 1,252 survey questionnaires to members of the Association of Mexican American Educators was conducted. Of the…

The program discussed in this paper was developed and implemented to improve student self motivation levels for a target group of 115 9th through 12th grade students who had classes with 1 of 4 participating teachers. Student self-motivation improvement activities were employed over a 12-week implementation period. Strategies developed were all…

A project geared to adult educators in rural central Pennsylvania addressed the topics of recruitment and retention of students in adult education programs in order to help the educators find solutions to these problems. Seminars conducted twice during 1993 covered the following topics: methods of recruitment, overcoming text anxiety, curbing the…

A review of the programs and policies to support the retention and nurturing of minority faculty members and students at the University of Pennsylvania leads to a number of recommendations to expand minority group representation in student and faculty ranks. These include (1) establishing departmental incentives for minority faculty recruitment,…

This study examined minority and nontraditional college students and how new approaches to learning and student development may validate culturally diverse students and thus improve their achievement. The project interviewed 132 first-year students at four different types of institutional settings. Students were selected from diverse cultural and…

Very little attention has been given in Canadian education to "second chance" education to enable people to return to school to complete their educations. Education is a responsibility of the provincial governments in Canada; there is no Federal Government or unit specifically dealing with education. Although policy can vary greatly…

For an ethnographic study of the personal and educational needs of Hispanic and Anglo adolescent mothers and the services affecting their decision to remain in school, researchers interviewed eight teenage mothers--four in a special high school teen parents' program and four who had dropped out of the program. Two young women in each group were…